Merle Haggard Cancels April Concerts Over Health Concerns

Merle Haggard has been forced to cancel more upcoming shows due to his ongoing health struggles. The 78-year-old country icon has called off the shows he had scheduled for the entire month of April.

The Country Music Hall of Famer canceled 10 shows in March after his doctors told him they wanted him off the road for another month. He previously postponed shows in February, but returned to the stage for a Feb. 6 show in Las Vegas, though his live comeback proved short-lived. Haggard also postponed or canceled shows scheduled for December and January.

Haggard was hopeful that he would be able to resume his road schedule in April, but as Billboard reports, for now he's canceled another string of dates that included some scheduled shows with Willie Nelson.

"I want to thank my fans for their prayers and well wishes. I hope to be back on the road in May, but I'm taking it one day at a time," the singer says in a press release.

Haggard revealed in December that he could have died from his struggle with double pneumonia. In a recent interview, he admits that his family want him to stop touring entirely.

“I feel it’s a double-edged sword,” he tells Garden & Gun magazine. “It’s what keeps me alive and it’s what f—s up my life. It’s hard to have a family, so I try and split it up. I try to build a life here of a reasonable sort, and then go and jump on the bus.”

But the country legend admits he recently bought a new tour bus despite his family's objections, though at the moment he has no idea when he might be able to make use of it.

“It’s like the old saying: ‘You want to make God laugh, tell him your plans," Haggard observes.